Deadly Courtship
by Availability
Summary: A friend of John's from Australia sends a request for SPR and the group travels overseas to solve a haunting in a desolate outback hotel. Unfortunately, Mai catches the ghost's eye and suddenly she becomes the fixation in a deadly attraction.  NaruXMai
1. Beginning

**Chapter one – Beginning **

It wasn't that Mai particularly disliked working at SPR… In fact, she liked it a whole lot. If you just pretended for a minute that angsty spirits, annoying shrine maidens, possessive psychic medium and half drowned zombies weren't in her job description, it'd be a dream career.

No, it wasn't the job that was the problem…. The problem was… _This _guy.

Mai fixed her eyes sullenly on the wall behind Naru as she sat a teacup down in front of him, doing her best not to look at the entrancingly handsome face that belonged to that damn narcissist. Backing away with the tea tray clutched to her chest she stared stubbornly out the door, acting as if she could not hear the _chink _of fine china as Naru lifted the teacup up.

It was silent for a minute – which was perfectly normal when all members of SPR were in their respective foul moods – before Naru spoke.

"Are you sulking?"

Mai looked up sharply and found herself further infuriated when Naru wasn't even looking at her. Dark eyes were scanning over the paper in front of him with far more attention than he was paying to the conversation he _ought _to be having with Mai.

"I'm not sulking!"

Naru's eyes flickered up for a brief moment to meet Mai's. The pair stared at each other and for a minute she seriously thought he might be about to say something of concern for her.

"If you're going to sulk I don't need you here. Go." He said bluntly and looked back down at his work before taking a small sip of his tea.

Mai's eyebrow twitched uncomfortably at his total show of indifference.

"Are you kidding? At least show a shred of concern!"

She was completely ignored as Naru simply flipped open to another page in his handout and took yet another sip of his tea, as if he'd already forgotten Mai was in the room with him.

It had been this way for a few days now inside the Shibuya Psychic Research headquarters. The atmosphere was tense and heavy, weighing down on all he passed through their door. It was far too silent, that is, compared to the first few days in the week which had been full of vicious yelling and irritating deductive reasoning.

To put it simply, Mai supposed you could say the SPR was having a bit of an internal dispute. An argument, a squabble, a blue…. Whatever you wanted to called it. _A rather pointless one too_, Mai thought glumly as she took care to stomp as she left Naru alone with his tea.

_If that conceiting jerk had just been willing to compromise… _

Mai swallowed back her irritation as she set a cup of tea down at Lin's elbow. He glanced up at her but neither thanked nor rebuffed her.

Trying not to allow his dismissive attitude to get to her – especially after his recent faint beginnings of trust – Mai backed out of the room and returned to her paper work shrouded desk nearer to the front of the of the office.

Tension had been high ever since John had requested a favour of SPR and their other spiritualist friends….

– _**One week ago –**_

"_Noises in the darkness, things moving and guests have been complaining of seeing somebody in their room late at night and feeling like they're being watch," John gave a hapless shrug, "It's been getting worse, too. One girl's in a coma after she and her friend were 'fell' down the stairs and another was dragged all the way outside the hotel before she woke up. She's fine though, except from a scrapped knee."_

_Ayako leaned forward confidently. "It sounds like an –" _

"_- Earth bound spirit," monk interrupted in a high pitched voice obviously meant to mimic Ayako. Yeah, yeah. That's your solution to everything." He leaned back and gave the fuming Shrine Maiden a superior smirk. _

"_Well it does." Ayako said a little defensively and Mai couldn't help the small giggle that slipped out her lips and her friend's haughty attitude. Masako gave her a strange look which she ignored for want of not wishing to start an argument. _

"_I know it's a lot to ask," John said with a small sigh, "but he's getting pretty desperate. His hotel's going to be run out of business if the paranormal happenings don't stop soon. That's why he got in contact with me."_

_Naru looked across at John who was sitting on the couch opposite with his full attention. "Did you try exorcising it already?" He asked. _

_John gave a small smile. "Well, I thought of trying but I don't even know where to begin. There's no place that seems to be more affected than elsewhere and Craig can't even tell me _when_ strange things start happening."_

"_The situation sounds rather pitiful," Masako sniffed, bringing the dangling sleeve of her kimono over to cover her face as she spoke, "if it's a spirit it's probably confused and doesn't know what's going on."_

_John shifted uneasily and Naru's eyes narrowed as if honing in on him. "That's not it, is it?" He asked of the Aussie monk. John gave a rather weak smile and a little shake of his head._

"_Actually, there is _something_ he mentioned about it…" John looked down at his clasped hands in his lap before glancing back up, this time at Mai, much to her bewilderment. "Most of the strange happenings occur around his younger female guests."_

"_Oh…" Masako, Ayako and Mai said in unison. _

"_Does that mean us girls won't be safe then? That we'll be targets?" Ayako said with a faint frown marring the white skin of her face._

"_I don't think _you _qualify as a 'young' female." Monk muttered under his breath and received a sharp whack to his easily bruised noggin for the trouble. _

"_Ah, I wouldn't have asked if I didn't think you'd be safe," John said quickly with a sidelong glance at his younger female friends, "but all the same, maybe it's for the best if you stay behind –."_

"_- I," Masako said with another disdainful sniff, "will be fine. It takes an ill-suited spirit medium to be afraid of spirits." She raised her head with a sense of dignity and pride before casting Mai a glance. "However, I understand that not _all_ young women can handle it." She finished off her dig with a slight lift of her nose._

_Mai bristled at the blatant invitation for an argument. "I'm fine! I can handle it! I want to come –."_

"_- Mai will be staying here." Naru said bluntly and the room fell into silence. _

"_Naru…" Lin said from his position behind him but Naru began speaking again with the same cold and distant tone he always used. _

"_If there's a spirit targeting young woman it's pointless to bring her along. Her powers are barely of use in a situation like this and she'll only be getting in the way if it's after her." His straight forwardness was only offset with the cool tone he used to deliver it as he raised his teacup to take a sip of the by now lukewarm beverage. "Besides, stupid as she is, she can't afford to miss that much school."_

"_Well…. When he says it like that…" Monk scratched the back of his shaggy hair awkwardly and didn't look at Mai as he said, "perhaps she should stay here. I mean, it'd suck to have in danger for no real reason."_

_Ayako tossed her hair over her shoulder but also avoided looking at the other woman. "I agree. It doesn't make much sense to drag her all the way to Japan where she'll she just be in danger and risk screwing up the investigation."_

_Lin looked a little uncomfortable and had a strange expression on his face and he stared at Naru. Mai, however, was stunned speechless. It felt like an outright betrayal! Everyone was to go but her? Why? Because she wasn't as good as them at what they did?_

"_What? But, Masako's going, so why shouldn't I?"_

_Naru set his teacup down and looked sharply up at his younger worker who was quite obviously fuming. "This is not open to debate," he said firmly, "Hara-san's skills are essential if we are to know what we're dealing with. I have no need for useless people on an investigation."_

_Even Mai's protesting that she could speak English decently was blatantly ignored until her frustration peaked. _

_Perhaps the rest of the guests sensed the murderous aura radiating from the young female psychic for they instantly got to their feet listing many prior engagement they had to attend before rushing each other out the door, John pausing briefly to call quickly, "I'll be in touch shortly."_

_The room cleared out that left Lin, Naru and Mai alone in the room._

_And the shouting began._

– _**Present time – **_

Mai let out an irate sigh as she shuffled some paperwork together before sticking it under a stapler which she slammed (_hard_) with the palm of her hand before tossing the messy stack of paper onto an even messier pile.

Everybody had their tickets for a flight to Australia the next day with Mai being stuck to 'mind the office'. What was she meant to do? Tell everybody that came in to go away? Go solve complex cases on her own? Ha! Don't make her laugh.

_I've been so sour lately; _she thought glumly, her eyes downcast as she stopped angrily shuffling through papers on the desk. The idea of going on a trip with Naru – even if it was for work – had been so attractive when John offered it, but Naru himself had immediately stomped that idea out.

_Maybe I should stop moping over it and just accept that I'm not going… _

Bringing down her mood even more she stilled her hands and simply stared at the dark wood of the desk as she tried to work her spirits up again.

_I mean with Naru and Lin gone, I'll have the whole office to myself! I can do anything! All the sleeping I want, going through Naru's office! I can even dance naked on his desk! _A light blushed tinted her cheeks as she reconsidered. _Okay, maybe not that last one. _

The sound of the door swinging open pulled her from her thoughts and she jumped guiltily from her seat as she franticly tried to look like she hadn't been thinking strange thoughts.

Expecting to see a customer she was surprised to see John leaning easily through the door. Looking around for a moment his eyes settled on Mai and he offered her a wan smile. "Hey. Is Naru in?"

"Huh? Uh, ah yes." She said softly but before she could utter another word he tossed her another small smile and shot across the room straight for Naru's office, disappearing from sight. Curiously, Mai craned her neck to try and look in but couldn't see much. Voices started up but she couldn't quite hear from where she was.

_This has got to be about the case…_

Heart pounding, she sneakily edged forward towards Naru's office, intent on hearing the conversation. Footsteps sounded behind her and she leaped back as Lin appeared behind her. He shot her a rough look that clearly told her she wasn't welcome before he stepped into the office.

Feeling isolated and left out, Mai returned to her desk and proceeded to fiddle with a pen while staring at Naru's office as if by doing so she would miraculously know what was going on.

The voices were quiet and urgent. She could make out John's strangely accented voice and hear the soft strands of Naru's, but not the words that were being said.

They didn't talk long; maybe a few minutes before they both emerged, John looking as strange as he had when he entered and Naru looking… Was he _annoyed? _No… he was _angry_. Mai was surprised. It was a rare expression indeed.

Alright, so it wasn't totally an '_expression'_ per se, but she'd spent more than enough time around Naru to be able to recognize the different shadows his eyes cast at different points in time.

Lin stood behind them slightly, his expression strangely dark as if he was puzzling over something he'd rather not.

It'd been silent for long enough now and Mai was beginning to wonder if _she _was meant to speak. She coughed nervously and opened her mouth, but Naru cut over her, voice like a knife.

"There's been a death at the hotel."

Mai wasn't sure what her reaction to this should be, seeing as how she wasn't allowed to be part of the case. "Oh… That's uh, that's –."

"- You will be coming with us."

"… What?"

Naru's brow creased slightly like he thought she was being deliberately dense.

"You will be coming with us to Australia."


	2. Flying with frightening heights

**Chapter two – Flying with frightening heights**

It was far too early in Mai's opinion to be sluggishly waiting at the airport for a four in the morning flight to Australia. Smothering a yawn she glanced over at Lin and Naru who seemed to be wide awake and perfectly alert.

Envious, she glanced back to the front, her sleep deprived eyes fixed on the front doors to the airport as she awaited the rest of the crew.

John had been first to arrive and was currently fetching the others coffee. Mai supposed it was out of guilt for dragging them out of bed so early, but with John you could never really be sure. The Aussie just seemed to be a naturally good guy. _Naru could learn something from him, _she thought duly.

A quick glance at a nearby monitor showed that their flight would start boarding any minute now and Mai was more than eager to get on the plane. Anywhere away from the stifling air that seemed to be surrounding Naru.

A quick look sideways showed Naru was calmly reading over some notes with his full attention. Lin was, of course, tapping away and a laptop without sparing the rest of the world any notice. Mai briefly wondered if they would even realize if she got up and left.

Naru had been in a foul mood since his announcement that Mai _would _be coming with them the previous night. Citing the reason as 'needing all the help they could get.' He hadn't even followed it up with a remark about her intelligence before turning on his heels and heading back to his own desk, Lin trailing after him.

Admittedly, he seemed a lot calmer now but he _still _seemed to be fuming slightly. Being stuck with an irritable Naru so early in the morning was hardly something Mai aspired for, and she was anxious for the arrival of the others.

Quick paced footsteps reached her ears and she looked up to see John returning while balancing a cardboard tray of Styrofoam cups and, much to Mai's surprise, Masako pacing evenly beside him.

For once the young spirit medium was not donned in her overly formal kimonos, but rather a light breezy blue dress that swung just below her knees. Somehow, it's cute but simple and modest design suited her just as well as her usual fashion.

Naru glanced up from his notes as John passed him a cup of coffee, his dark eyes settling on Masako. "You're late Hara-san," He said simply before taking a sip of his beverage. Sitting the mug down on the seat beside him he slid his notes back into a folder.

A light shade of red coloured Masako's cheeks. "There was some trouble with traffic. Monk is not quite as good of a driver as he would have us believe."

Mai gratefully accepted her drink and glanced behind Masako to see Ayako striding easily towards them, hair perfectly placed despite the early hour in the morning. Monk trailed slightly behind her and Mai was amused to see him laden with bags from his female friends. He looked decidedly frustrated as he caught up to the group and slammed them down with a groan.

"What am I?" He moaned, "Your pack mule?"

Masako brought one pale hand up to hover before her mouth as she tried to look as innocent as possible. "We couldn't have possibly carried them all this way ourselves. It's far too early in the morning for such strenuous labour."

Ayako tossed her hair and opened her mouth to add on to Masako's statement but a sharp _ping _from the speakers cut her off.

"_Now boarding for flight 180 to Australia at gate six. Now boarding for flight 180 to Australia at gate six."_

Mai let out a long suffering sigh before scowling down at her coffee which she had barely had a chance to drink. There was the sound of shifting paper as Naru slid the folder he'd been looking through back into his bag. Standing up he moved his bag over his shoulder and cast Monk – who was rolling his aching shoulders – a look.

"If you want all that luggage to make it on the plane, you need to go check it in. You're probably already too late," with those tension easing words he strode off simply in the presumed direction of gate six with Lin right at his heels.

"Whaaaat?" Monk blanched.

"Oh dear," Ayako smirked, "You better hurry Monk. You'd hate to hold up the plane on your account." Quickly the priestess hurried after Naru, Masako fighting for a straight face as she trailed after her.

"_Now boarding for flight 180 to Australia at gate six."_

Monk sent Mai a pleading look which Mai returned dumbly, one hand clutching a half-full cup of coffee and the other holding onto the bag she planned to take with her on the plane. Really, Mai didn't really want to help, but seeing the beseechingly look Monk was offering her she could do little more than toss her coffee in a nearby bin and sigh, "C'mon. Let's get this done with."

oOo_oOo_oOo

As luck would have it, Mai scored a seat on the plane besides Masako who was unjustifiably irritated due to the plane being delayed for ten whole minutes after it was supposed to take off because Mai and Monk had still been checking in _her _luggage. Which, for the record, had exceeded the weight limit. Mai was yet to tell her that her favourite kimono was no longer in her case but rather the care of the airport security. She supposed it couldn't hurt if Masako was deprived of this information for just a little while.

The seats were comfortable enough and Mai was enjoying watching the scenery dance by beneath her window. The small size of the porthole had her face all but glued to the class as her eyes traced the wisps of clouds floating along below.

"You look ridiculous." Masako sniffed beside her and Mai looked up for a moment simply to scowl at her before returning to staring out her window.

She could hear the fast taping of finger dancing along a laptop and she smiled at the thought of Lin's impatient face while he waited for the seatbelt sign to click off earlier for him.

This flight was going to be pleasant, Mai decided. Not even Masako and her stuffy attitude would interfere with the fact she was actually going to Australia when only a week ago it had seemed like an impossible concept. Best of all, she didn't even have to pay for tickets! The beauty of traveling for work.

If only it wasn't so damn early…

Stifling a yawn Mai tore her gaze away from the window and looked past Masako to see it anybody was serving coffee in the aisle. It didn't appear so. Sighing, she settled back in her seat and titled her head so she could still watch the window.

Her excitement had stopped her getting a decent night's sleep and she was really feeling it now. Maybe she could close her eyes for a little bit. Not long enough to miss the whole flight, by just long enough to miss out on the crappy movie showing on the communal television

"Seems like a plan…" She mummured sleepily, reciving a strange look from Masako.

If there was one thing Mai was good at, it had to be sleeping.

Smiling slightly she allowed her eyes to drift closed and prepared for restful nap.

oOo_oOo_oOo

"_Eek…"_

_Mai opened her eyes as she heard the strangled and terrified sob. "Masako?" She asked, glancing to the side where her friend had been seated near her. Rather than an irritated raven head though, she found herself looking at a solid stone wall. _

"… _Eh?" A wild look around proved that she was no longer on the plane but rather an impossibly black place. "But I was just…"_

"_Hnf…"_

_There was another sob and Mai looked around. It was too black to see anything though. She couldn't even see herself when she looked down. It was an eerie feeling, like she wasn't there at all and that very thought sent shivers down her spine. _

"_Fnf…" there was another sob._

"_H-Hello? Is someone there?" She called out and suddenly the sniffled sobs stopped and it was silent again. Mai hesitated than opened her mouth to call out again only to shut it when she heard a strange sound completely different from the sobbing she'd been listening too. _

_The sound of something scraping a trail through the grim stricken floor caught Mai's attention and she took and involuntary step back as she strained her eyes to see in the dark. "It's just one of those dreams…" she muttered to herself._

_Where was Naru? _

_The scraping sound continued and Mai took yet another step back only to feel her back collide with another wall. Wetness spread across the back of her shirt and a strangled yelp slipped through her lips as she jerked away. _

_Pressing her fingers to the back of her shirt with some difficulty she transferred some of the liquid to her hand. She brought it up to her face but realized she couldn't see anything through the inky blackness. She had a hunch though and with her stomach rolling around she brought her fingertips up to her nose and gave a small sniff. _

_Blood. It was definitely blood. _

_The dragging continued and Mai's heart began pounding wildly in her chest. She knew she recognized that sound… _

_Focusing, she closed her eyes which were just a needless distraction in the blackness anyway, and listen carefully. _

Shhhhhhhrrrr…

_That was... _

Shhhhrrrrrr…

_Doubtlessly... _

Shhhhhrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…

_The sound of a body being dragged. _

_The dragging stopped and Mai was helpless to still her racing heart. Eyes squeezed tightly shut she pressed her hands firmly over her ears but couldn't quite shut out the guttural groan that shattered the stillness. _

"_Monica…"_

OoO_oOo_oOo

Mai gasped and shot up right, nearly hitting her head on the seat in front of her as her heart bet so fast she thought she might just faint.

"Mai?"

Slowly Mai turned around and saw Masako half in and half out of her seat staring at her with what might have been concern. "What are you doing? We have to get off the plane now."

Mai stared at her blankly as she tried to register the words Masako was saying in her current state. "We're here?" She asked.

Masako's concerned expression became one of annoyance. "Yes, we're here. You spent the whole flight asleep –." Something seemed to click with Masako as she frowned and pressed one hand to a startled Mai's forehead.

"You're sweating…"She observed. "Did you have one of your…" Trailing off she hardened her expression. "Hm, well it doesn't matter if you had a nightmare."

With that last remark she retrieved her bag from below her seat as she joined the throng of people pushing themselves down the narrow walkway and towards the exit of the plane.

Mai just stayed where she was sitting trying to calm her racing heart. _It was a nightmare, _she reasoned, _we haven't even begun the case. If I mention it, it'll just confuse everyone… It's my responsibility to not confuse those dreams with nightmares… _

Despite her self-assurances Mai found her legs were just a little too weak to stand on right now.

She couldn't help but wonder if she had wasted a near ten hour flight on what felt like a one minute dream?


End file.
